"The bearded one is my cousin, Hu Dayong. The other one, the Black Iron Serpentfolk Star Lord, is also from Third High School. He's called Tie Muxiong, and he comes from a Star Lord lineage too."
Fang Xiaohan quickly introduced the people across from them to Liang Ji.
At that moment, Hu Dayong turned toward the southwestern jungle and called out, "Friends in the jungle, come out and show yourselves too."
Hearing this, the Grasswood Serpentfolk in the jungle knew they'd been discovered long ago. They stopped hiding, and several groups of Grasswood Serpentfolk came out.
At the same time, three beams of starlight gathered in midair and took the shape of three figures: two women and a man.
"As expected, they're the Bamboo, Vine, and Tree lineages from Tenth High School."
"The girl above the Green Bamboo Serpentfolk is Zhu Xiaoxiao. The boy above the Wood Vine Serpentfolk is Teng Jun, and the girl above the Entwining Tree Serpentfolk is Shu Lianqiu. All three are from Tenth High School."
"Though the Bamboo, Vine, and Tree lineages these three come from aren't Star Lord lineages, they're all venerable old families in Xiūshé City, with incredibly long histories. They have plenty of clansmen in the Lower House of the City Council, City Hall, the Patrol Division, the Education Bureau, and many other agencies. You could say they're rich and powerful! Their clans also have members who've cultivated other immortal lineages to extremely advanced levels."
"You could say all three families are just one step away from raising a Star Lord of their own."
Listening to Fang Xiaohan's introductions, Liang Ji realized that the Star Lords gathered here were mostly either from Star Lord lineages or from wealthy, powerful families.
Fang Xiaohan and his cousin Hu Dayong were no exception. Their families clearly supported them with considerable wealth, resources, and connections.
In short, they were all pay-to-win powerhouses. They were probably the true elite among the nearly four hundred Star Lord students at Xiūshé City's ten high schools.
As for Liang Ji, a regular kid from an ordinary family whose Vassals had undergone a few mutations but still couldn't compare to these pay-to-win powerhouses—
In other people's eyes, he was probably just like the Star Lords behind Huang Yao and Cao Chanyue: one of Peng Yue's followers, a bit of background scenery, not worth anyone's notice.
Just then, after the different groups had appeared, they greeted one another and discussed how to divide the treasures and Spirit Stones in the core area. For the most part, they only spoke with Peng Yue, and at most exchanged a few words with Fang Xiaohan.
Though a few people looked at Liang Ji with curiosity, none of them paid him much attention.
Seeing this, Liang Ji had no intention of forcing his way into the spotlight. He understood that he was still a cut below these "chosen ones." Pushing himself forward would only invite humiliation. He was better off following Peng Yue and Fang Xiaohan, getting a few benefits, then doing his best to improve himself and his Vassals and figure out how to catch up.
Before Peng Yue and the others could settle on a plan for dividing the spoils, several more Vassal groups came racing in from the distance.
From the south came a large force of Serpentfolk in crimson armor, surging forward like a wildfire. They were the Crimson Serpentfolk group Liang Ji and the others had fought earlier.
This time, however, there were more than twice as many Crimson Serpentfolk as before. Starlight gathered above their ranks and formed two figures, a man and a woman. One was Xia Yuanqiu; the other, Fang Xiaohan explained, was Li Qian of First High School.
At the same time, a vast bank of clouds drifted across the eastern sky. A group of Half-Demon Snake People, seemingly formed from clouds, flew in from above. Starlight gathered over them as well, taking the shape of a figure.
"Whoa! That's Yun Lai from Seventh High School!" Fang Xiaohan drew a sharp breath and said gravely, "The Yun Family is a genuine powerhouse in Xiūshé City. They have several Star Lords in their clan, and their unique Cloud Lightning Serpentfolk may not stand out at the first tier, but once they advance to the second tier, they awaken the lightning attribute. Their destructive power is astonishing!"
Before long, a large force of Serpentfolk surged in from the north. The scales of the thousand or so Serpentfolk at the head of the group were blue as the sea, and as they advanced, they rolled forward like a vast wave. Starlight gathered above them too, forming the figure of a girl.
"That's Lan Yingying from Sixth High School. Her family's Tidal Serpentfolk are exceptional too. In the sea, they can even match the Yun Family's Cloud Lightning Serpentfolk."
Fang Xiaohan's expression had gone numb by now. He wondered if the Xiūshé City Education Bureau had sent all the top Star Lord students from the ten high schools to this trial world.
Chen Yuan's star was the largest, richest, and most resource-rich of the six trial worlds, but surely it couldn't provide enough for so many top Star Lord students to divide among themselves.
"Or maybe they just want to watch the chaos unfold and see the top Star Lord students from all the schools clash ahead of time?"
Just then, a rumbling came from the west. Everyone looked over and saw a vast Serpentfolk army marching in formation. There were nearly ten thousand of them.
Among them were special Serpentfolk like the Crimson and Black Iron Serpentfolk, as well as large numbers of ordinary Spotted Serpentfolk. But the ones at the head of the formation were a special kind with three eyes.
"People from Fifth High School have finally arrived!"
Fang Xiaohan seemed to have expected this. He explained:
"The three-eyed Serpentfolk at the head are also called Qianji Serpentfolk. Not only are they venomous, they're also particularly skilled at organizing battle formations, directing combat, and spotting openings to break through the enemy."
"They're Zhang Liangpu's Vassals from Fifth High School. The other thousands of Serpentfolk Vassals are definitely from Star Lords at Fifth High School too. The Crimson Serpentfolk should belong to Wu Motong, and those Black Iron Serpentfolk should be Jin Yuelian's."
The star they were on for this trial had originally belonged to Chen Yuan, a Star Lord student from Fifth High School. In the eyes of the Star Lord students from Fifth High School, that made them half its owners. Of course they wouldn't be left out.
"Classmates, we want half of the treasures, Spirit Stones, and other resources here!"
Above the Qianji Serpentfolk army, starlight gathered and took the shape of Zhang Liangpu. He looked at the Star Lords and their Vassal forces all around him and called out.
"Heh. What a joke!"
As soon as Zhang Liangpu finished speaking, a cold laugh rang out. It came from Xia Yuanqiu, whose figure had appeared above the two Crimson Serpentfolk groups to the south.
He sneered. "Why should we give you half? Because you have more people? Or because you're from Fifth High School?"
"In my opinion, the strong should claim the treasures. We should fight it out, then take the treasures and Spirit Stones according to our own abilities."
Most of the dozen or so Star Lords present came from Star Lord lineages. They were rich, powerful, and strong, and while they might all be proud, none of them were afraid of trouble—or of anyone.
As soon as Xia Yuanqiu finished speaking, more Star Lords around them voiced their support. None of them were willing to let the people from Fifth High School take half the spoils first.
Cao Chanyue from Ninth High School even laughed and said, "I say we join forces first and wipe out all the Vassals from Fifth High School. Then we can divide the treasures and Spirit Stones."
"After all, wasn't this whole unexpected disaster caused by the people from Fifth High School? It even dragged the rest of us into it and cost five other students their lives."
"One of them was from Ninth High School."
Hearing Cao Chanyue's words, quite a few of the Star Lords present brightened, looking tempted.
It wasn't that they were "united against a common enemy." It was simply that if they eliminated one group first, they'd have more treasures and Spirit Stones to divide among themselves.
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